Chapter ten

The Doctor and Jessie crept up behind a lone Keroslate in true form, the Doctor holding his mirror. He winked at Jessie and she nodded. She grabbed the Keroslate, who was taken by surprise, and the Doctor thrust a mirror in front of its eyes. They watched it slowly die and Jessie knelt down by it. "Poor thing. Probably wasn't doing anything wrong." she said, a tear rolling down her cheek. She couldn't bear to see things dying. The Doctor patted her on the back and then took the body to behind wall. A minute later he came back with a paper bag. "Yuck, is that…?" asked Jessie, her voice trailing off.

"Yeah." the Doctor replied, screwing up his face, "It stinks!"

"Come on, lets put it in the transmitter." Jessie said, grinning.

The Doctor started to press some buttons on the transmitter. The eye was in there already and everything was set. "All I have to do is press this lever, and they all die." said the Doctor after a few minutes. Jessie stared at him uncomfortably. "We're killing a lot of Keroslates." she said.

"Yeah, but they want to kill you…and there are six billion of you."

"Fair point. Get on with it then."

The Doctor stared down at the lever, poised in a position to pull it. "What are you waiting for?" asked Jessie impatiently.

"I don't know if I should give them another chance." The Doctor said, looking down.

"They tried to kill us, like you said. They deserve it."

The Doctor sighed, closed his eyes and pulled the lever. The light suddenly flickered and the Doctor and Jessie were thrown backwards onto the ground with a sharp thud. Jessie could see a strange electric beam blasting out the transmitter and splitting into different paths. Then, as quickly as it had begun, it faded away and stopped. Jessie pushed herself off the ground and went over to the transmitter. The Doctor followed. "Is it done?" asked Jessie.
"Not sure. Let's go look."

The site was horrible. Keroslates in both forms were splayed out all over the ground…dead. Jessie bent down by her mum. "She was the same even when she wasn't a Keroslate. Horrible to me." her gaze shifted to her father, "Him as well? I got no family left…"

The Doctor came over to her and put his arm around her. A tear escaped from Jessie's eye. "Don't know why I'm sad. They were so horrible to me…I should be glad."

"Well…it's cos' they were the only family you've got, I guess."

Jessie stood up and wiped her eyes. "I never cry." she said.

The Doctor grinned. "I won't tell anyone."

The next night, after the Doctor had left for a few hours, Jessie stood by the window, thinking. She felt alone. More alone than ever. She realised that was all she ever felt. A welcoming noise filled her ears. The TARDIS had returned. Suddenly she didn't feel alone. She had a friend. A friend who was going to take her to see the universe. She grabbed a pair of jeans, pulled them on and then pulled on a t-shirt and jacket. Then she collected her suitcase and ran down the stairs. The doors of the TARDIS were still closed and so she knocked excitedly. The Doctor looked out. "Whoa. What've you got in there?" he asked, indicating the suitcase, "An elephant? Come on, get inside."

Jessie ran in, the TARDIS feeling like home. She gazed around at the gigantic room and put her suitcase down. "Where are we going?" she asked, as the Doctor pulled a lever. "I've just got a call from someone you might have heard of in Egypt." the Doctor replied.

"Who?"

"Tutankhamen."

"Doctor."

The Doctor looked up. "What about those windows in space…have they closed?" asked Jessie.

"Yes, yes course they did." the Doctor said, not wanting to say what was in his head. That the windows to the Keroslate's planet were closed…but whoever had made the windows hadn't closed them…

He pulled a lever and the TARDIS went off, a new companion inside.